The meeting
by planet p
Summary: AU; Miss Parker meets Bobby in a kind of unusual way. I have the last chapter written, but I am still thinking about whether I will change it or not, so any reviews would be really nice.
1. Chapter 1

**The meeting** by planet p

**Disclaimer** I don't own _the Pretender_ or any of its characters.

* * *

Miss Parker stumbled into the kitchen, somewhat over intoxicated, but it was, or had just been, the anniversary of Thomas's death.

She was looking for a glass of water, and the light switch, though, she supposed, she'd ought to be looking for the light switch first, and then the glass of water, and veered back around to the door and felt for the switch on the wall.

The light would take a moment, as it always did, so she turned back around in the mean time, and reminded herself that she'd come for a glass of water. She was thirsty. After all, that was the reason she'd come down from the guestroom upstairs in the first place, though, why she'd been sleeping in the guestroom when she had a perfectly good bedroom of her own wasn't so clear.

She heard the sound of the light and the room brightened what seemed like instantly, and she took in the sight of the boy standing directly in front of her, wondering for a moment how drunk she actually was and mentally kicking herself.

The boy could have been anything, a burglar, a maniac, a mass murderer, a rapist. She cut that thought short when she realised that they knew each other and that he must have come to her for help, or the likes. "What's wrong, baby?" she asked, and then, as though it had only just dawned on her, she added, "Ain't you supposed to be older?"

The boy just stared at her, shivering a bit.

She wondered why he looked so grubby, and then she got a closer look at his face and noticed that he'd concussed himself and hoped that it hadn't been on account of criminal activity. "Oh, my Lord, just what have you gone and done to yourself now?" she commented. "Just look at your eyes."

She stepped forward and lifted his chin to get a better look at his eyes, wondering again just how he'd managed to concuss himself, and smoothing his hair down a bit to make him seem more presentable in case they needed to see a doctor so that they wouldn't immediately suspect him of criminal behaviour, or, at the very least, they'd assume her unwitting.

She didn't have extra-terrestrial contacts who she'd be able to call for help just by thinking it, or something, and have them zap her out of jail, quick as a whip. Plus, she strongly suspected that she was drunk, something the law was known to take a dim view of.

She took her hands back, noting to herself that it was, in fact, concussion, and stared at the blood on her hand, all mixed up with dirt. She returned her gaze to the boy swiftly, and frowned. "Is that how you concussed yourself, sweetheart? You hit your head?" she asked.

The boy didn't reply, so she decided she'd just have to take a look for herself, in case it was bad. She picked a bit of dead grass or weed out of his hair, and sighed heavily. It didn't look good.

"It's all bunged up, sweetheart. I think you're gonna need a doctor to see it," she told him.

He turned to face her abruptly. "I wanna stay with you," he said, not looking at her.

She frowned. "That's okay, baby. I don't think you're old enough to drive, see, so I'd have to take you in to see the doctor, anyway."

"I'm seventeen," the boy said.

"Right, see, you don't look seventeen," Miss Parker told him. "You see how I can easily make that mistake, sweetheart?"

"I don't think you should drive," he said.

Miss Parker nodded. "I see that, baby. I do. And you're right. Maybe I should just call Sydney, he's like a doctor, see."

"It's late," the boy told her, widening his eyes at the floor.

Miss Parker nodded again. "But you hit your head pretty bad there, sweetheart. I'd just feel a whole lot safer myself if I had a doctor look at it first."

As she was watching, his eyes turned in his head and he started to lean forward, as though to fall, but she stepped in quickly to catch him.

* * *

"I had a bit to drink, if you know what I mean," Miss Parker explained to Sydney, glancing at him as they walked away from the front door. "A bit too much." She nodded, and glanced at the blood on her hand.

"I understand," Sydney replied. Though, she didn't think he did understand. She didn't think he'd understand if she told him an alien she'd met as a 17-year-old had just reappeared, looking exactly the same age as he had then, and with a nasty concussion to add to the list.

To her relief, the boy was right where she'd left him, on the sofa, when she'd gone to phone Sydney and then again when she'd walked to the door to let Sydney inside the house.

"He hit his head pretty bad," she explained, offering Sydney a look at her hand. "That's from his head. It's his. Plus, his eyes are all funny, kinda outta shape, like he's concussed or somethin'." She nodded, and returned her attention to Sydney's face. "I really appreciate this, too. I really appreciate you comin' out here at this time and all that."

Sydney nodded. "What is his name?" he asked, glancing at the boy sleeping on the sofa.

Miss Parker tossed her head. "No clue."

Sydney frowned. "How do you know this boy, Miss Parker?"

"He just kinda showed up," she explained, "if you know what I mean. I mean, I dunno, maybe he was sellin' cookies, like for one of those fundraiser things, and he got lost and the cookies got lost, but not in the same place, see, and then he saw my house and he thought, you know, that he'd ask for directions or what not."

Sydney glanced at the boy. "I see," he replied.

Miss Parker nodded. She darted forward and knelt down on the floor to shake the boy awake. "Wake up, baby, Sydney's here now. He's gonna take a look at your head and see if you're alright, okay?"

The boy turned around to face her and sat up.

"Will that be okay, sweetheart?" she asked, peering into his face. "Sydney's here," she repeated. "He's gonna take a look at your head and make sure you're okay."

"Okay," the boy agreed.

"Do you have a name, sweetheart?" she asked suddenly. "It's just that Sydney wants to know," she told him as though it were a secret between the two of them.

"Bobby," the boy replied.

Miss Parker smiled. "That's my brother's old name, did you know that? But he has a new name now, so it doesn't really matter." She turned to glance at Sydney, and Sydney walked over, then she got up and stood next to Sydney.

Sydney frowned, and glanced at Miss Parker, and then back to Bobby.

"I ain't sayin' anythin'," Miss Parker told him, and smiled at Bobby.

"My name is Sydney," Sydney introduced himself. "Do you think it would be alright if I took a look at your head, ah…?"

"Bobby," Bobby replied, glancing at Miss Parker.

She smiled again.

"Okay," he said, disinterested.

Sydney nodded. "Your friend here says that you hit your head. Is that right?"

Bobby frowned. "I think so," he replied, looking at Miss Parker again, and then looking back to Sydney.

"Alright," Sydney agreed.

* * *

When Sydney had finished his examination of Bobby's head wound, Miss Parker and he walked into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

"I think you should have left him where he was, Miss Parker," Sydney told her in a lowered voice, shooting her a serious glance.

Miss Parker frowned. "What, do you think it was bad that I moved him?" she asked, worried. "He just kind of passed out, I mean, and I didn't want to leave him on the floor because it's, well, you know, it's cold."

Sydney frowned seriously. "It's obvious that he's a clone, Miss Parker," he told her.

Miss Parker narrowed her eyes. "What? No! That's," she shook her head, "that's ridiculous. Not everything's like on _Stargate: SG-1_, Sydney. I bet he just doesn't age the same way we do. The way humans do, I mean."

Sydney stared at her, confused.

Miss Parker turned away to switch the coffee machine on and get it started. "Hey, sweetheart," She called into the other room loudly, "is there somethin' I can fix you to drink?"

"Could I have a glass of water, please?" Bobby asked, from the doorway.

Sydney looked at him quickly.

Miss Parker turned away from the coffee machine. "Sure, sweetheart. I can get you a glass of water if you like."

Bobby stared at the floor.

Miss Parker walked to the cupboards and took out a glass and filled it at the kitchen tap. "Here you go, sweetheart," she told him, handing him the glass of water.

Bobby looked up from the floor and took the glass. "Thank you," he replied.

"That's alright, sweetheart." She turned back to Sydney and rolled her eyes, before turning back to Bobby. "Now, you ain't on the run from the law or somethin' are you now, sweetheart?" she asked him.

Bobby stared at the floor, widening his eyes. "No," he said.

Miss Parker nodded. "I hope not," she told him.

Bobby handed her back the glass. "Thank you for the water," he told her.

"Hey," Miss Parker told him suddenly, taking the glass from him, "that don't mean you can go yet. Sydney's gotta get that thing on your head cleaned up, and I want you to get some sleep before you go using none of those alien powers of yours to call your buddies, you hear me, hmm?"

Bobby stared at her, frowning strangely. "Okay," he said.

"There's a television set! Isn't that just neat! My stars, I'm all excited now!"

Bobby's eyes widened suddenly and he turned to face the door.

The four-year-old grinned. "You see that television set in there, Bobby? I'm real excited, I am!"

"We seen television before, Baby," Bobby told the younger child with wide eyes.

The little boy's eyes widened. "There's people!"

"I see that, Baby," Bobby agreed.

"They look kinda angry and mean," Baby said. "What you do, Bobby? You didn't do nothin' bad now, did ya?"

"They ain't angry and mean," Bobby defended. "They staring at you, wondering what you doin' 'ere, and where you come from!"

"You bashed your 'ead, Bobby, you ain't thinking straight."

"Wha' 's 'at mean?" Bobby asked, annoyed.

"You thinkin' squiggly-like, I reckon," Baby told him.

"You jus' bein' mean now," Bobby said. "You jus' a little ole mean thing, you are."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "I'm so mean!"

"Yes you are!"

"You 'it your 'ead, Bobby." Baby nodded. "I think somethin' comed dislodged."

Bobby stared at him. "Why you gotta be so mean, huh?"

"I want chips, that's why!" Baby told him. "And I don't see no chips, I just see mean and angry people."

"You jus' think everyone is mean an' angry, don't you, Baby?"

"That's right!" Baby agreed. "And I just think you is mean and angry too!"

"Well I am!" Bobby told the younger child. "Cos you ain't havin' no chips, and you ain't watching none o' that television none, either."

Baby made a face and stomped his foot. "I'm gon' scream!" he threatened.

"You go on and scream to your heart's content," Bobby said. Then he crossed his arms and turned to face Miss Parker and Sydney, who were staring at the little child who looked exactly like Miss Parker had when she'd been that same age, save for the curly hair. "That's Baby," Bobby explained. "'E's got a temper on 'im sometimes, but 'e's a good kid."

Baby stomped his foot loudly behind Bobby. "I isn't no good kid! I'm bad! I'm real bad!"

Bobby rolled his eyes. "'E likes to play it up for the ladies, if you know wha' I mean," he confided.

Bobby made a face, eyes wide.

Bobby smiled.

"I just 'ate you, now!" Baby declared.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "'E 'ate's me now."

* * *

"C' we watch TV, ma'am?" Baby asked, walking over to Miss Parker. "I don't think I ever seen TV before. I mean, not switched on an' all, ma'am, and you look like a kin', generous person to me, ma'am, the sort o' person who'll give a person a chance, I mean."

Miss Parker stared at the little boy.

Bobby frowned and walked over. "Baby likes to talk real pretty, but 'e ain't gon' do nothin' 'bout it," he said, glancing at the younger boy.

"I is too!" Baby disputed. "I gon' ask this little lady here," he frowned. "My apologies, ma'am." He glared at Bobby. "I gon' ask the lady of the 'ouse 'ere if she gon' let me watch her big ole television in there."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "She won't," he told Baby. "You know there ain't a thing on at this hour, just station close, Baby."

Baby made a face. "I gon' ask anyway."

Bobby shrugged.

Baby glanced up at Miss Parker.

"I think it's a bit late for television really," she told him.

Baby frowned. "But I don't mind."

"I think you should be in bed, honey." She nodded. "And you too, Bobby."

Baby laughed.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Sydney gotta look at my 'ead first," he said.

Miss Parker frowned, and nodded. "You're right, of course. I guess I'll just take your brother up to bed first," she said.

Baby made a face and grabbed Bobby's hand quickly. "I isn't goin' without my brother," he said. "He could die, and I wouldn't have gotten to say farewell."

"'Farewell,' Baby?" Bobby asked. "I ain't gon' die."

Baby made a face. "I don't trust you."

Bobby rolled his eyes, and looked at Miss Parker. "'E's scared of the dark, even when there's a light on."

Baby kicked him in the shin.

Bobby smiled.

Baby scowled.

* * *

"That really needs to be seen by a proper doctor, and some stitches put in," Sydney told Miss Parker in a low voice, after cleaning up the wound in Bobby's head, Baby holding onto his hand tightly all the while, as though he was going to get up and walk out.

Miss Parker frowned, considering what Sydney had said, and glanced at Baby when she noticed he was crying.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to die, you baby!" he said obviously.

Baby punched him in the leg.

Bobby shook his head, and looked at Miss Parker.

Baby sniffed and hugged him which must have meant that he didn't really want him to die after all.

Miss Parker nodded and sighed. "I'm going to have to agree with Sydney on this one," she said, and turned to glance at Sydney.

* * *

Sydney drove them over to the hospital in his car, and stayed in the car to wait for their return.

Baby waved goodbye to him as they were walking away, toward the hospital's emergency entrance.

Bobby made a face and slouched. "I don't think it'd really be classed as an emergency, or anything," he said, depressed.

Miss Parker didn't say anything, and they kept walking.

* * *

"How did this happen then, young man?" the doctor asked, as he was examining the wound.

"I fell over when I was skating. I know I should have been wearing a helmet, but it's really uncool, and hardly any of the other kids do," Bobby explained.

Baby stuck his tongue out at him, and looked at the doctor. "He was supposed to be at school but he went to the skate park instead," he said. "He's grounded!"

The doctor glanced at Miss Parker. "I can tell it's been some time," he said, "but it's still going to need sutures, I'm afraid."

Miss Parker nodded. "I just found out about it an hour ago," she said.

The doctor frowned and turned back to Baby, who was holding onto Bobby's arm tightly.

Bobby glanced at Baby too.

Baby looked at the doctor suddenly. "I want to stay!" he hollered, wide eyes going to Miss Parker.

"Is that alright, doctor?" Miss Parker asked.

The doctor sighed. "I'd prefer if he didn't," he said.

"But you'll allow it. He's very attached to his older brother. He doesn't like to go anywhere without him, and he doesn't like to miss out on anything that he thinks his brother is doing and he isn't either," she explained.

The doctor sighed again, and nodded.

* * *

Baby's eyes went wide when he saw the injection the doctor was holding and he gripped tighter to Bobby's arm.

"I'm not really allowed anaesthetic," Bobby told him, glancing at Miss Parker. "I've had it before, but I had this… thing-"

"He died!" Baby shouted. "And they had to resuscitate him! He's a zombie now!"

Bobby sighed, resigned. "It wasn't quite that dramatic," he began.

"Fifteen times!" Baby added loudly.

Bobby laughed, unbelieving, and rolled his eyes in exaggeration.

The doctor turned to Miss Parker in alarm.

She nodded uncomfortably.

Baby glared at the doctor.

"Is that okay?" Bobby asked.

The doctor turned back to Miss Parker, who frowned. He turned and walked over to her, and they went out of the room for a while.

When he came back, he asked Bobby if he was ready to have his stitches, and Bobby nodded, glancing at Baby.

Baby continued glaring at the doctor as though he hadn't noticed Bobby looking at him until Bobby told him that he'd have to stand over with Miss Parker.

Baby stomped off and stood next to Miss Parker, his expression angry.

* * *

On the way back to Miss Parker's house, Sydney took them through the McDonald's Drive-Thru to get French fries and coffees.

Baby ate his French fries in the car on the way back, but Bobby said he wasn't hungry and gave them to Baby.

* * *

At the door to the guestroom, Baby turned to Miss Parker. "Well, mother," he said, "I believe that this is goodnight."

Sydney frowned, glancing at Miss Parker and the little boy.

Miss Parker nodded. "Goodnight, Baby," she said, striding into the room and switching on the light. She turned back to the boys. "Now, there's only one bed, so you're going have to share."

Baby made a face. "He thinks aliens are real!" he told Miss Parker loudly. "He's mad! Why do I have to share with him? Can't he sleep on the floor instead?"

Miss Parker smiled. "No, Baby, Bobby can't sleep on the floor," she said, glancing at Bobby who'd walked over to the bed and sat down. "I don't imagine that the floor is very comfortable."

"That's okay," Baby said, "he's real used to sleeping on floors and stuff anyway."

Bobby laughed sarcastically.

Baby threw him a glare.

"I don't think so," Miss Parker replied firmly.

Baby stalked off over to the bed and climbed onto the mattress at the end of the bed and crawled underneath the blanket and lay down.

Miss Parker frowned, walking over.

"Don't you want the pillow?" Bobby asked, staring at the lump at the end of the bed.

"NO!" Baby growled in a muffled voice, from underneath the blanket.

Bobby handed her the gun from underneath the pillow. "Goodnight, Miss Parker."

She took the gun and tucked it away quickly, frowning. "Goodnight, Bobby," she said.

"GOODNIGHT, MUMMY!" Baby half-yelled.

"Goodnight, Baby," Miss Parker replied.

"Mummy?"

"Yes, Baby?"

"I love you, Mummy. I hate Bobby."

"Okay, sweetheart."

Bobby rolled his eyes, and frowned.

Miss Parker nodded and walked out. She pulled the door almost closed after her, leaving a small gap, and walked back downstairs, Sydney following her silently.

* * *

"'Mommy'?" Sydney asked, turning to face her.

"What else was I supposed to tell them?" Miss Parker asked. "That they were somebody's sick idea of a joke, of making money? A science experiment? That they don't have a real mommy? That they're freaks? What, Sydney?"

Sydney sighed and turned away from her.

She stalked off toward the front door to let him out.

* * *

She walked upstairs an hour later and walked to the guestroom. The light had been turned off. She pushed the door open slowly and walked into the room, noting that Baby was now in possession of the pillow.

"He's asleep," Bobby said quietly, and Miss Parker walked over and stopped by the bed.

"How's your head?" she asked in a low voice.

Bobby didn't say anything.

"Is that true?" Miss Parker asked quietly. "What Baby said earlier?"

Bobby stared at the blanket. "I didn't die," he said finally. "My heart stopped."

Miss Parker made a face. "Fifteen times?"

"That's what I was told," Bobby intoned blankly.

Miss Parker stood around for a couple of moments, before walking out again. She stopped at the door, but didn't turn back. "Bobby?"

"Yeah."

"You weren't scared of the gun were you?"

"My daddy had a gun," Bobby replied. "It ain't guns that are scary, ma'am. It's the folks who are holdin' them."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Miss Parker.


	2. Chapter 2

Miss Parker sat up in bed suddenly, startled. When she got out of bed and walked to the guestroom, she found Bobby already awake, sitting on the floor in the corner, staring at the window.

She didn't know what to say, so she said what she thought she'd usually say to a guest in the morning. "Do you want to," she glanced at the window, "use the shower or something?"

Bobby glanced at her and grimaced.

"Are you hungry?"

Bobby shook his head.

"Well, you've got to eat something," Miss Parker told him awkwardly. "You weren't hungry yesterday, and you're not hungry today." She stopped talking.

"I guess I'll just eat something when Baby does," Bobby said, after a while.

Miss Parker nodded. "Well… I'll be in the bathroom," she said. "For a while," she added, and walked out. She had no idea why she'd just said that, or who, in fact, he or Baby really were. At first, she'd thought she'd known who he was, but it had been hardly logical, and she'd been spectacularly drunk, but then, when she walked in in the morning and found that they were right where she'd left them last night, she'd started to become scared. What if Sydney was right? What if they were clones? Why had they come to her? And what would happen to her when the Center found out that they had?

* * *

When she'd finished showering and she'd dressed for work, she checked back in at the guestroom and found that Baby had woken up and that Bobby was telling him about roses, which Baby could see out of the guestroom window, staring intently down into the garden.

"Good morning," Miss Parker said awkwardly from the doorway, and Baby whipped around and crawled across the mattress and dived off the bed and ran up to her and stopped in front of her sharply, smiling.

"I'm hungry," he said excitedly. "Can we eat?"

Miss Parker nodded, and turned back to the hallway.

* * *

"I want to look at it!" Baby whined, staring at Bobby from across the table. He'd chosen to sit next to Miss Parker, and Bobby was sitting across from the pair.

"After you've eaten," Bobby said. "Maybe."

Baby whined.

"After you've eaten," Bobby repeated.

Baby stared at his salad, and then at Miss Parker's. "Do you always eat plants for breakfast?" he asked.

Across the table, Bobby smiled.

"Sometimes I eat eggs with the plants," Miss Parker answered, glancing at Baby.

"From chickens!" Baby said, and let out a heavy breath.

"That's what the supermarket label has led me to believe, yes," Miss Parker replied.

Baby huffed. "Can't we have eggs today?" he asked.

Miss Parker frowned.

Baby made a face. "What if it's not dead?" he asked, glancing dubiously at his salad. "I think mine's still alive, it's making noises."

Miss Parker coughed and turned to glance at him.

"It's dead, Baby," Bobby said from across the table.

"No it's not," Baby protested. "It's still trying to live. I can hear it. It's in pain."

"Just eat it!" Bobby told him, annoyed.

"I don't want to hurt it!" Baby cried.

"That's what it's for!" Bobby ground, glaring at his plate instead of Baby.

Baby sniffed and dropped his hands into his face.

"Stop crying and eat it!" Bobby growled. "You're upsetting Miss Parker."

"She let them murder it," Baby sobbed. "She thinks it should be murdered too."

"Yeah, and you murdered that potato!"

Baby looked up from his hands angrily. "I DID NOT!" he shouted.

"Yes you did," Bobby said. "What do you think chips are made out of?"

Baby glared at him horribly, eyes shining with tears. "That's different!" he said. "It didn't even look like a potato!"

"But it still was!" Bobby told him loudly. "You ate it! You wanted them to murder it so you could eat it! You're just as guilty as they are!"

"I HATE YOU!" Baby shrieked.

Miss Parker winced and glanced at Baby. "Baby, we can't just live off air, we need to eat."

Baby sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. He threw a look at his plate and pushed it away from him.

Miss Parker sighed, and glanced at Bobby. "I don't like raised voices in my household," she told him levelly.

Bobby smiled. "He started it!" he told her angrily.

Miss Parker frowned. "He is four years old, you are not."

Bobby laughed.

Baby sniffed.

Miss Parker shook her head and went back to her salad, though she didn't feel like eating anymore.

* * *

Miss Parker listened to Baby crying all the way to work in the car, and wondered if he would be offended if she turned to radio on. She left it off.

Bobby sat up the front and glared at the traffic, pretending not to notice that his little brother was crying, or not to care.

Miss Parker decided that she'd take them shopping after work to buy breakfast cereal so at least they could eat what other kids ate and there wouldn't be any more tantrums about plants getting murdered.

When they reached the parking lot, Baby refused to get out of the car, so Bobby went around to open the door and yell at him to get out.

Miss Parker stayed out of it. If Bobby was anything like her brother, Lyle, she didn't want to be the one in the way when he got angry. She'd didn't feel comfortable with it being Baby, either, for that matter, but she figured that Baby was younger than her, and Bobby's brother from what she'd gleaned, so maybe Bobby would be easier on him when worst came to worst, though it didn't look like it now.

Bobby reached over and grabbed Baby's arm to pull him out of the car and Baby yowled, holding onto the unbuckled seat belt tightly.

"I SAID 'GET OUT OF THE CAR,' NOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THE CAR!" Bobby yelled.

Miss Parker flinched but didn't interrupt.

Baby finally managed to pull his arm free and unbuckle his seatbelt and, whilst Bobby was trying not to fall over backward, scamper across the other side of the car before Bobby could get a hold of him again.

"GET OUT!" Bobby hollered.

Baby glared at him but didn't budge.

Miss Parker was just about to go around to the other side of the car and ask Baby to come out nicely before Bobby got any more violent, when Bobby collapsed to the ground.

Baby screamed and came hurtling out of the car. "Get up!" he said loudly. "I'm out now!"

Bobby didn't get up.

* * *

Cox walked over to Miss Parker, who was standing outside, having just been to the coffee room for a half hour stint – Baby had eaten two handfuls of biscuits – and sighed and shot a look at Baby. "The kid doesn't get to listen," he told Miss Parker, annoyed.

"He's my brother!" Baby hollered, instantly on the offensive.

Miss Parker glanced at Cox and nodded and he called a nurse over to take Baby away and to take care of him whilst they talked.

* * *

"How can he have blood poisoning?" Miss Parker asked, confused. "I took him to hospital last night to have his head seen to. He was fine then."

Cox sighed heavily. "There's a lot more wrong with him than just his head, Miss Parker," he told her. And blood poisoning was just one of them.

* * *

"He's being looked after now," Miss Parker explained to Baby, who was staring blankly at the wall, ignoring the television altogether. "He's going to get better."

Baby laughed suddenly, harshly, and turned to Miss Parker with a revolted glare. "It's my fault!" he told her angrily. "I should have never let him do those things to Bobby! I should have killed him when I had the chance! I could have done it! I could have cut his throat in his sleep! Poisoned him! I could even have shot him with his own gun!"

Miss Parker stared in horror at the murderous glare on Baby's face.

Baby put his hands over his ears and screamed at the top of his voice.

Miss Parker sat beside him, shaking all over.

* * *

When Sydney saw Miss Parker standing in the corridor, shaking like she was, he hurried over and put his arms around her.

"You'd never believe that just this morning he was advocating against the killing of plants for human consumption," Miss Parker breathed, still shaking. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but she couldn't seem to stop shaking, no matter how much she tried.

* * *

Sydney went with her down to SL-9 to see Baby, who'd been placed in his own room, away from the other patients, to settle down, with a mild dose of diazepam.

He wasn't restrained, and he wasn't screaming, but the door was locked, and he was sitting facing the wall, staring at it as though he couldn't see it at all, staring at it blankly.

Baby didn't turn, or flinch, or show any sign at all on his face that he'd acknowledged Miss Parker's presence when she was let into the room by a doctor, and she slowly walked up to the bed and stood standing in front of it, just watching the four-year-old boy staring at nothing in front of him.

She wanted to reach out and touch him, but she didn't dare. Time seemed to lag on, as though slowed somehow, and she couldn't seem to gain control over her body to make herself turn and walk away.

And then Baby whipped around, just as he had that time at the window, as though he had something very important to do that he must not be kept from, at all costs, and clamped his small hand down around her wrist tightly.

And she fainted.

* * *

She came to outside of Baby's room and insisted to the doctor and Sydney that she did not need to lie down, that she did not need medical attention; she was fine, thank you very much. Except, she lied.

She would have welcomed a bed to lie down in. Somewhere to throw up right now, like a bathroom. But she couldn't let her emotions slip. She couldn't let Sydney know anything was wrong, because then he'd know what had happened to Bobby. Because then he'd know what had happened to her brother.

And he'd know that Bobby was her brother.

And so was Baby.

* * *

Lyle had gone away, transferred, months ago. And then Bobby and Baby had come.

She didn't know why they'd come, or even how, she just knew that she had to look after them whilst they were here. She had to look after them now, like she hadn't been able to look after her brother then. Like her mother hadn't looked after him then.

She was their mother now. Their sister, their mother. She would keep their secret.

It was her secret too.

Now.

* * *

Bobby came to her office at midday, just checked himself out of Med Space, asking that he be allowed to see his younger brother, baby. They needed to be together, he said, but she couldn't look at him without seeing all of those horrible things Baby had let her see – let her feel – when he'd touched her.

Just one touch.

Maybe she understood. Maybe she needed her brother too. Maybe she needed Lyle, to tell her it was all okay now, it was over, things were different now.

She rang Med Space and asked them to come and collect Bobby, he seemed to have gotten lost and strayed out of Med Space. Bobby didn't try to run away, or shout at her, he just looked at her, and she looked at him, and then they'd taken him away – back – and she had no one left to look at.

Until she walked to Sydney's office, and there was Sydney, standing at his door. She asked him if he knew Lyle's number – any number, just as long as it was Lyle's – he said 'no.' She left after that.

Broots found half a dozen numbers for her, fixed her with a strange look. She couldn't let him know the secret either. It was too horrible.

She sat down in her office and stared at the numbers. Could she ring them? she wondered. Could she remind her brother of that? Could she tell him about Bobby and Baby? Could she stand it if she never saw them again, never spoke to them again, if he took them away?

She sat and stared at the numbers.

And then, half an hour, an hour, two, three hours later, she picked up the telephone, and dialled the numbers, one by one, until one of them was picked up by something other than a messaging service.

She didn't tell Lyle why she needed to see him – she had no interest in chatting over the phone – she just told him that she did.

She hoped he'd come. For the first time in her life. It felt odd. Not real.

She wondered if he'd think she was sick. Maybe he'd think she was dying? Maybe he'd bring flowers, chocolates, a card, a teddy bear?

Maybe she'd let him hug her. Just for a little while. Just before she told him the truth.

He wasn't that person.

He was her brother, but he wasn't.

It was different.

She wondered if he'd care, if she lied, said she was dying, goodbye.

Wondered if he'd even cared when it had been him – no – when it had been her brother, saying goodbye, saying he didn't want to have to deal with it anymore, saying he couldn't.

Maybe he'd been happy.

It had been his chance. Chance of a lifetime.

She wanted to slap him.


	3. Chapter 3

A loud ringing sound made her turn around – and jolt awake. She sat up straighter and tried to concentrate on her paperwork, until she noticed that the ringing hadn't stopped, and she was, presumedly, supposed to pick up the phone.

"Miss Parker. What?"

* * *

She stomped down to SL-9 and told the doctor that she was taking Baby home whether he liked it or not. She was not going to meet Lyle anywhere for dinner tonight unaccompanied! And she was sure as Hell not leaving Baby at the Center tonight! It was already bad enough that she had to leave Bobby in Med Space.

She hauled the four-year-old up into her arms and marched away. It wasn't until she'd gotten around the corner that she put him back down. He didn't look it, but he was quite heavy.

* * *

She got home and lay down on the couch and let Baby watch whatever he wanted on the television at whatever volume he wanted. He wanted to watch a documentary about the sea, on mute. He sat and stared at the television intently, as though imagining himself one of those animals.

She sat up after a while and rested her chin on his head. He didn't look away from the television. "We're going out for dinner tonight," she told him. He didn't even blink. "I need your opinion. What should I wear?" She sighed, and stared at the television with him.

* * *

Baby had thought she'd looked nicest in purple, she hadn't been up to disagreeing. She'd chosen black high heels.

When they were standing, waiting to be shown to their table, Baby got the hiccups. Miss Parker smiled, the other patrons didn't have the same idea. She smiled a bit wider.

She thought about Bobby, wondered what he thought of the hospital food Med Space served. The crappy sort, not the good sort, not on their lives.

She spotted the table, and Lyle, and thought she'd sneak up on him with her nice little surprise, if only Baby could stop hiccuping. She glanced at him and placed a finger to her hips.

He shut his mouth, looking worried.

Miss Parker smiled.

She'd managed to sneak right up behind the chair where Lyle was sitting without him noticing – he was probably paying too much attention to the waitress at table 18 – and a pleased smile was starting to work its way onto her face, when Baby hiccuped.

And Lyle turned around and saw her.

She smiled, and stepped out of the way. Of course, it hadn't been her who had hiccupped.

Baby, who'd been standing right behind her, was looking away to his left.

"This is Baby," Miss Parker told her brother, and turned her attention to the child. "Baby? Baby? Look who it is!" She tried to make him look at her by turning his chin with her hand. "There we go, Baby. I know you miss your brother. Look who it is!" She looked behind her at Lyle, who'd gotten up.

"Hello," he said.

Baby looked at him suddenly, unhappily.

Lyle frowned and walked over to the child and brushed the hair out of his face. "What's wrong, darlin'? What happened?"

Baby made a face and looked away from him.

"Hey, darlin'? Darlin', look at me."

Baby didn't.

Miss Parker chose her moment to act. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"Projection," Lyle answered vaguely, his concentration focussed on Baby. "Darlin'? Darlin'?"

Baby turned his head and glared at him viciously.

"That was before my time, darlin'," Lyle replied to his silent accusation.

Baby rolled his eyes.

Lyle shook his head. "Yeah, why don't we just make the whole bloody world my fault!" he shouted.

Miss Parker stared at him. In case he'd forgotten, they were in the middle of a _bloody_ restraint – and he was shouting at a four-year-old!

"Come on then," Lyle demanded, "what the Hell do you want? You wanna bitch at me about Kyle too?! Is that it, hmm?!"

Miss Parker shot him a filthy glare and pushed him away from the child and put her arms around Baby.

A waitress came over and Lyle told her that they'd have black coffee, but no coffee for the kid.

Miss Parker laughed and told the waitress to get Baby a Coke.

She glared at her brother and walked around the table to take a seat, lifting Baby up onto the seat beside hers. She glared at him from across the table.

"I think you're being a tad unfair, don't you?" a 14-year-old girl, dressed in a red evening gown, asked, stopping beside their table.

Miss Parker stared at the girl.

She nodded to Lyle. "Hello, Lyle." She turned and nodded to Baby. "Bobby."

Baby glared at the table.

"I see our favourite brother is once again absent without leave," the girl commented.

Baby directed his glare at her face.

"Oh, you beg to differ, Bobby, my dear?" the girl asked.

Miss Parker stared at Lyle from across the table. He had a _female_ personality!

"Amy, don't tease him," Lyle said, glancing at the girl suddenly.

Amy huffed, resigning. "If you insist."

"I do insist," Lyle told her.

She sighed. "How is AWOL these days, anyway?"

Baby growled.

Lyle shot him a look.

Amy held up her hands in surrender, and smiled. "He always was the funny one," she commented dryly.

"At least he wasn't a criminal!" Baby growled.

Amy stared at him in astonishment and shock, eyes widening, and slowly growing fright. "Oh, then, I take that it was just my imagination and Jimmy is alive and well, somewhere out there, in the mysterious wild tangle that is the universe." She turned to Lyle, frowning with consternation. "I'm a criminal! Then, I wonder, is our beloved mother, _Cathy_ also a criminal? Is that what you're doing, Bobby? Are you calling our _mother_ a criminal?"

Baby narrowed his eyes at her.

She turned to him suddenly, with concern and pity in her eyes. "I was never Bobby's biggest fan, my dear," she told him, as though in explanation.

Baby's eyes turned in his head, and she suddenly stepped closer to Lyle.

"Darlin'?" Lyle enquired, glancing briefly at Amy, who was holding onto his jacket.

Baby laughed.

"Don't you do that again, you nasty little thing!" Amy gasped, promptly stepping away from Lyle. "Don't you dare, you terrible thing! You horror!"

"Sit down, Amy," Lyle told her, as though she'd merely stood from her chair, and passed her the drink menu. "Pick."

Amy shot him a foul look, and fell into a chair next to his, and diverted her gaze to the menu card she was holding. "I shall have the little Italian number," she decided duly. "No ice!"

"Do I look like the waitress?" Lyle asked, annoyed.

She glanced at him shortly. "Certainly not. One imagines that the waitress is a woman." She smiled secretly, and returned her gaze to the menu, and stood up to arrange it just right in the centre of the table.

When she'd taken her seat again, Baby stretched his arm across the table and knocked it over with a finger.

She shot him a detestable glare.

Miss Parker glanced at Lyle, who was reading the larger of the two menus. "What are we all having, then?" she asked.

"I couldn't say," Amy chirped, "on account of someone else _reading_ the menu!" She gave an airy laugh.

Lyle glanced at her, frowning, and passed Miss Parker the menu across the table.

"Oh, you are absolutely horrid!" Amy shot spitefully.

Lyle looked away from her.

Baby yawned, resting his head on the table. "I'm having anything with chips," he said, bored.

"I'd have to say the same," Bobby agreed, and Baby sat up straighter in his chair and smiled.

Amy turned about in her seat to peer at Bobby. "You look darn awful!" she told him plainly. "Who let you out of the asylum?"

Miss Parker coughed.

Amy shrugged, and turned back to the table.

"Hello, Bobby," Miss Parker said, standing up as he walked over to where she was sitting.

Baby smiled at him brightly, clearly excited that his brother had decided to sit near to himself, and Bobby took a chair directly next to his own.

Amy huffed and made a face.

Bobby stared at the table with large eyes, and Baby stared at Amy.

"Oh, yes," Amy agreed, "I imagine that I'm quite the attraction, boys."

Baby smacked a hand over his mouth to stop himself from giggling, and Amy glowered. Baby smiled at Miss Parker.

Amy titled her head from side to side and rolled her eyes.

Bobby turned away from the table to cough.

After an uncomfortable silence, the waitress returned with their drinks and was informed by Amy of her choice of drink, and told to fetch a glass of water for her dear brother, Bobby, who was gravely ill.

Miss Parker stared at her coffee, wondering when all of the squabbling was going to end.

Amy began to hum _Delilah_ to herself happily.

Baby shot vipers at her with his eyes. He didn't find her funny, or witty.

Bobby patted his hair absently, staring into thin air in front of him.

"Oh, goody!" Amy chimed suddenly. "The punch line! Finally! And, oh, can I say, young man, we're all dying – simply _dying_ – to hear it!" She fanned herself with her hand witheringly.

"I wish you would die!" Baby hissed under his breath, but apparently too quietly for Amy to hear, though Miss Parker certainly heard and glanced at him, and then on to Bobby.

Lyle ignored Amy and fixed his attention to Bobby.

Bobby reached across the table for the menu, before it was picked up and passed to him by Lyle.

"Oh, why bother!" Amy uttered with an expelling of air like a puffy breath. She sat back in her chair, morose and oh, so correct, and sighed.

"Kyle's alive," Bobby said.

Amy leapt from her chair, eyes flying wide. "Oh, my word!" she gasped loudly. "You cannot merely _decree_ such a thing, child!" she declared, a hand clutching her throat in horror and excitement. "Oh, do tell me everything!" she gushed. "You simply, must! Tell me all!"

Baby stared at her and sniggered.

"How is Kyle alive, sweetheart?" Miss Parker asked after a moment, completely ignoring Amy's flamboyant display.

Bobby frowned at the menu with wide eyes, and put it down on the table.

Miss Parker leant over to glance at him properly. "Sweetheart?"

Baby screamed and clapped and hand over his mouth, ridiculously excited.

"Yes! Tell me!" Amy gasped, taking her hand from her throat and reaching it out to Baby as though she were drowning and he was her last chance. "Tell me, quick, and I'll take back all of the awful, despicable things I said about you!" She gasped, as though amazed at this small child's power over her, and nodded quickly. "Tell me now. Oh, I cannot stand this suspense. I'm not a trapeze artist, child, I was not born balancing from a tightrope, dancing in the sky, suspended, between life and death-"

"Amy, be seated!" Lyle interrupted in annoyed.

Amy's hand flew back to her throat and she turned to him waspishly, lowering her hand to her breast, as though in hurt. "How dare you, sir!" she gasped. "How dare you speak to me in such a manner, sir!"

Baby snorted, and Amy's attention whipped around to the small child. "Yes, what is it, child?" she whispered loudly.

Baby glanced at Lyle.

Amy frowned, turning her head slowly to glance back at Lyle, and then suddenly back at Baby. She choked, eyes widening.

Baby smiled.

"Oh! Oh no!" Amy ranted. "No! No, never! Never in my life! I refuse. I simply, irrevocably refuse – to believe that!"

"Believe what you want, Amy," Bobby told her blankly, shaking his head. "Nobody cares."

Amy hiccupped. "I beg your pardon, young man?!" she demanded in a high voice.

Bobby rolled his eyes.

Amy threw her arm out and pointed at him accusingly. "No, no, you don't take that tone with me, young man!" she told him angrily, a vicious flint gleaming in her eyes, a mirror image of his own. "I do beg your pardon, you revolting thing, you will have more respect FOR A LADY!"

Baby slipped out of his chair and marched around the table angrily.

"Oh! Oh!" Amy backed away from her chair, toward Lyle, and reached out a hand behind her. "Oh! No! Stop it! You must stop it! Act the adult for once – and put down some rules! That is what they need, these boys – good, solid, sturdy rules!"

Baby glared at her, continuing to stomp toward her, until he was stopped by Bobby who took a hold of him from behind and picked him up.

"Oh, thank heavens!" Amy exclaimed. "My stars, the little terror about near frightened me out of my skin! My goodness!" She turned to glance at Lyle in relief, and hurriedly stepped away from him, as though only just realising who he was. "My goodness, such dramatics!" she exclaimed, taking her seat once more.

"I HATE YOU!" Baby bellowed, fixing his narrowed eyes on Amy and struggling hard to break free from Bobby's grasp. "I hate you forever and I don't care if you hate me back!" he hollered.

Miss Parker stared at him abruptly in shock.

Bobby started coughing and put him down on the chair standing up. Baby stared at him, frowning.

"Can you not do that elsewhere?" Amy asked, waving a hand in front of her as though to ward off something unpleasant, or contagious.

Baby put his arms around Bobby's middle and hugged him.

"Oh, tish for you!" Amy muttered, still waving her hand in front of her madly.

"Bobby?" Lyle said, watching him from across the table.

Bobby nodded, still coughing, and finally stopped coughing. He hugged Baby, and then stepped around Baby's chair to address Miss Parker. "I have to go," he said, eyes watery from coughing, and smiled. "I am pleased to have finally met you, sister," he said, and frowned and walked off.

"Oh, hel-lo!" Amy called after him. "Don't I get a _bon voyage_, then? Or just a 'happy travels, beautiful'?"

Baby snorted.

Amy sighed. "Oh, never the mind, he's upped and fled, the miserable fellow," she muttered.

Baby made a face at her.

She rolled her eyes indulgently. "I'll not let you intimidate me, you brat-ish thing," she said. "I shall remain on this very spot, no matter the amount of disgraceful faces you throw me. I'm simply famished, if I might say so myself."

Baby folded his arms on the table and put his head on his arms.

Miss Parker frowned. "Did Bobby go back to Med Space?" she asked.

"Gosh, no!" Amy replied, though it had not been her whom Miss Parker had been addressing, and glanced at Lyle.

"He's gone outside, I think," Lyle said.

"By golly," Amy exclaimed, "the boy is dim!"

The waitress returned with Amy's Italian soda and Bobby's glass of water, and Baby lifted his head up from his arms and straightened and fixed his gaze onto his glass of Coke, all of its ice now melted away.

"Thank you," Lyle told the waitress, nodding to her.

"Are you ready to order now, sir, madam?" the waitress asked, glancing around the table.

Amy snatched the menu up quickly and squinted down at it intently.

"I think so," Miss Parker said, glancing at Baby.

Baby glowered morosely at his dead Coke.

Amy blurted out her order primly, and returned the menu to the table, crossing her arms efficiently and ignoring the occupants at the rest of the table.

Miss Parker gave the waitress her and Baby's orders, and watched Bobby walk back over to their table, looking paler than ever.

When the waitress turned around to take Lyle's order, she took a sharp step backward, obviously finding Bobby's sudden appearance behind her sufficiently disturbing to suffice so, and frowned, before returning her attention to Lyle, who stood abruptly, frowning. "I'll have what my sister's having," he said, not really looking at her, and Amy pointed a finger at Miss Parker without looking, now glancing appraisingly at her fingernails.

The confused waitress scribbled this order down, and glanced at Miss Parker again. She said that Bobby would have what the young one was having, meaning Baby, and ordered a glass of red wine to go with their meal.

The waitress nodded and hurried away.

"What is the matter?" Lyle asked Bobby quietly, and Miss Parker watched them carefully, listening carefully.

Amy rolled her eyes. After a moment, she pushed herself to her feet and lifted up her skirt primly and strolled over to join Lyle and Bobby, ignoring the pointed look from Lyle - this was not a conversation for her – and directing her attention to Bobby. "For the love of God, boy," she told him, "you're my brother, so you know I could never truly hate you, as hard as I might try." She made a face and put her arms around him. "Now say that you're not going to take Bobby's side and condemn me to eternal damnation – may I burn in the fires of Hell forevermore, the Lord be praised, amen!"

Bobby turned away from her and coughed.

She stepped backward and rolled her eyes impatiently. "Well, I'm still waiting," she said. "I do believe – and rightly so – that it is all manner of impolite to keep a lady waiting, boy, and you'd best be believing it."

"I don't hate you," Bobby said in between coughing, "I just think that you're… complicated."

Amy smiled smugly and stepped forward smartly. "Would you care to say that to my face, young man?" she challenged.

"No… I don't think so," Bobby replied.

Amy ruffled her nose and marched away, picking up her skirt again, though it was hardly long enough to warrant doing so. "You, I shall not forgive," she informed Baby, taking her place at the table once more, and smiling to herself.

"Amy, lay off pushin' Baby's buttons and say you're sorry – both o' you," Bobby told her.

Amy narrowed her eyes, but didn't turn to face Bobby. "I'm sorry, _baby_," she said in a purposely childish voice.

Baby glared at her. "I'm sorry, dragon!" he replied. "I'm sorry you're a dragon, and a witch, but some people are just unlucky!"

Amy sucked in a breath. "You abhorrent tick!" she hissed menacingly.

"I know where he is," Bobby told Lyle in a low voice, leaning toward him, his eyes turning in his head. "I can sh-show you."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Lyle said.

Miss Parker stood up sharply and walked over. "Why don't you sit down," she said to Bobby. "I've ordered you something with the rest of it, and it would be a pity to let it go to waste because you were too tired to eat it," she reeled off.

Lyle glanced at her, but she pretended not the notice.

"Bobby, sugar, why don't you lay off pushin' your own buttons?" Amy suggested, imitating his accent.

Baby shot her an unpleasant look, and tried to catch Bobby's eye, hoping to encourage him to sit down with him to wait for their meals to arrive, though it would likely be a good twenty minutes to half an hour, or longer.

Bobby laughed humorously and walked around the table to sit down beside Baby again.

Baby smiled at him. "You don't have to find Kyle."

Amy shot him a filthy look. "Can it, cry baby!" she said, abandoning her earlier charade of civility.

Baby glared at her.

"I promise not to hurt the others," Bobby said, and Miss Parker glanced worriedly at Lyle.

Amy jumped out of her seat. "So help me Lord Jesus, son of Mary, I will slap you, Bobby Joe Bowman, if you don't stop this right this instant – and I will slap you good!"

Baby stared at Bobby, hoping that Amy's threat would impart some sense in him, but he didn't look around at either of his 'siblings,' and his eyes got a distant look in them.

Amy marched over and slapped him hard across the face. The sound scared Baby, and he flinched and shied away, but Bobby continued to stare at nothing. Amy stomped her foot angrily, and shot a desperate glance at Lyle. "He's not coming back!" she said.

Lyle shook his head and walked over. He grabbed Bobby's wrist forcefully and yanked him to his feet. Bobby stared at him with wide eyes. "I said, 'no,' boy, in case you didn't hear me the first time!" he told Bobby forcefully. "Now, Kyle is dead, no matter whether you want him to be or not. It happened. He's gone. And neither you, nor anyone else, can change that or bring him back. He's dead – get that into your head!"

Bobby pulled his wrist away from Lyle and turned to walk away but Amy stepped in his way.

"Sit down, laddy," she told him. "We gonna eat."

"I'm not hungry," Bobby told her stiffly.

"Do as you're told for once in your stinking life!" she hollered at him, and slapped him across the face a second time.

Baby slipped off his chair and ran over to Miss Parker and hugged her tightly.

Bobby sat down, smiling.

"I've got my eyes on you, laddy!" Amy let him know menacingly, then turned to Lyle, who walked back to his chair and sat down. Amy turned and followed him, sitting down in her own chair and glaring at Bobby.

Miss Parker walked back to her chair with Baby and they sat down to wait for their meals to arrive, and Miss Parker wondered why Amy seemed to favour Lyle more than the others.

"Oh, this is jolly, I must say!" Lyle said suddenly, and Amy glared at him.

"You're not invited!" she growled.

Baby smiled. "Hello, Teddy," he said.

Lyle smiled at him.

"Beat it, creep!" Amy hissed.

"I see that we're all here," Lyle commented brightly. "Sister, too. My goodness, even Bobby."

Bobby stared at him.

"Cheery sort of atmosphere, 'ey?" Lyle said.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Here's an idea, loser – get lost!"

"She doesn't like me, does she?" Lyle observed. "I wonder why that is?"

Amy laughed harshly.

Lyle sighed, noting the teenager's glare. "I believe this is my cue," he said to the table at large. "I shan't keep you waiting."

Amy scowled darkly to Lyle. "He reminds me of that pompous jerk, _Ly-le_!" she growled, the last part in a sing-song voice. "_'Ey_!" she imitated, pulling a face. "Who even talks like that in real life? I hate him! He's such a jerk-o-path! He's thinks he's all that, but he's so so what!"

Lyle glanced at her, checking to see if she'd finished her rant.

She sucked in a deep breath, and held it for a moment before letting it out heavily. She rolled her eyes at Miss Parker. "I'm sorry, he's such a jerk."

"What's a 'jerk'?" Baby asked.

Bobby looked at him suddenly. "It's just a word, Baby," he said. "A bad word. It don't mean nothin', it's just a mean word some folks use for folks that don't always agree with them or they don't like so much."

Miss Parker smiled at Baby.

Amy turned and glanced at the waitress, now approaching with their food, glad that the food was finally on its way, and Miss Parker was gladder when the waitress told her that the wine would be right out.

* * *

"I love food!" Amy exclaimed happily. "Man, do I love food! Ain't you gonna eat, Bobby Joe?"

Bobby picked up a chip and put it in his mouth.

"You go on an' eat that food all up, now, Bobby Joe," Amy told. "They're ain't gon' be no wastage on my watch."

Baby sighed and stared at his plate dubiously.

"That's a veergtable, Bobby," Amy told him. "You know, like a potato."

Baby made a face. He knew what a vegetable was!

"Less talking, more eating," Lyle told Amy, glancing at her plate.

"I'm eatin'!" Amy told him.

He frowned.

Amy grinned.

* * *

"If I finish my dinner, can I have dessert?" Baby asked eagerly, glancing up at Lyle.

"If Bobby's havin' dessert, I am too!" Amy chimed.

"I don't want dessert," Bobby told her dully.

Amy made a fake amused sound in her throat and rolled her eyes. "We both know I weren't talkin' 'bout you, Bobby Joe," she said, and shot a look at Baby. "Ain't that right, sooky baby?"

Baby glared and gripped his fork tighter.

"The food stays on the plate, or it goes in your mouth," Bobby told him firmly.

Baby relaxed his hold on the fork, but continued to glare at Amy.

"If you finish all of your dinner," Miss Parker interrupted, "_then_ we'll see about dessert."

* * *

Miss Parker was amazed that Baby did manage to finish all of his dinner, even though he'd been ordered a children's meal, he was only four years old, and Miss Parker couldn't ever remember being able to eat quite so much as a four-year-old, then he had a piece of apple pie for dessert. Amy had some fancy honey cake thing. Bobby, as he'd earlier said, did not want dessert, though he ate all of his dinner, even if he only ended up looking sicker for it.

Miss Parker managed to eat all of her own meal for a change, and still fit in a slice of apple pie and the last of the wine, before Amy could steal it away from her when she wasn't looking, much to Amy's annoyance.

She decided to take a walk before driving home, hoping to work off some of the alcohol, or at least wait long enough for most of it to have been assimilated into her system.

Baby huddled close to her as they walked, and Amy kept grabbing Lyle's hand, even though he tugged it back again after a moment.

Bobby wandered along behind them with a near blank stare, clearly depressed.

Amy was in the middle of her third round of Delilah when Baby gave a sudden cry of excitement and sprinted off ahead, followed by Amy, bellowing at his heels, "Get back here you shit!" Even if she hadn't had any alcohol, her vocabulary had certainly veered off somewhere during the evening.

When Miss Parker, Lyle, and Bobby caught up to Amy and Baby, Miss Parker found Baby staring into a glass front of a hobby shop at a large – but not life-size – scale replica of a pterodactyl dinosaur intently.

"Exciting," Bobby intoned from behind them, which was how Miss Parker remembered that he was there. "It's plastic."

Baby grinned. "I like it!" he said enthusiastically. "It's fantastic!"

Amy laughed, and this time, the sound was just amused, nothing hiding underneath.

Baby turned to Miss Parker excitedly. "Do you like it too?" he asked eagerly.

Miss Parker smiled. "It's very nicely done," she said.

Baby grinned. "It's fantastic!" he enthused.

"Plastic fantastic," Bobby said blankly, and Amy burst into a peel of hysterical laughter.


End file.
